Artist: Dudley Hardy English (1867-1922)
Title: Abbotts Phit-Eesi
Plate: PL. 92
Original lithograph from "Les Maitres de L'Affiche" series.
Printed by Imprimerie Chaix, Paris, 1897.
Presented in 16 x 20 in. acid free, archival museum mat, with framing labels. Ready to frame. Shipped boxed flat via Fedex.
Certificate of Authenticity.
Maitre Sheet Size: 11 3/8 in x 15 3/4 in 29 cm x 40 cm
Price: $200.00
Two elegant gentleman, a lady, and a curious dog are seen from behind, as if they are watching a sporting event. The type, of which Hardy is famous for in his designs, helps to set a jovial tone for this unusual perspective. The boots and shoes they wear, in a curious way draw our attention in this wonderful composition, which seems to radiate out from the lady's red umbrella in the centre of the poster.
"The prolific English artist Dudley Hardy is best known for his work for publications and the theatre, both as a illustrator and posterist. His work for commercial firms is considerably rarer. And yet his contribution to poster art is considerable: 'He really introduced the colour poster to England…His posters are strongly derivative of Cheret's. Like Cheret he appreciated the advertising value of sex-appeal, and his recurring subjects are legs, tutu's, frou-frous and legs again. The range of expression and antic is between a frisky insousance and a brassier glamour' (Hillier p.97)" (Rennert, PAI-XXIX, 397)